Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for a weekly conversation with Pro Football Talks
Mike Florio, brought to you by Simply Seattle. Tired of
buying and repping the same old Seattle sports gear everyone
else has. For the best Storm, Seahawks, Mariners, Kraken, Rainiers, Sounders,
and not to mention, the largest Sonics collection in the world,
check out simply Seattle dot com. Now with Mike Florio,
(00:21):
here's Softy.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
And Dick Quick Mariner news. They just snout Logan Evans
who bitch eight great innings yesterday? Has been optioned to
Triple A. Jackson Koar has been brought up. Mike Florio
joins us. Now, Michael, how you doing.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
You know that brings back memories back when I used
to follow baseball. Having a guy optioned to a Triple
A club sounds so much nicer than the guy was cut.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Well, because he's still your property. He still belongs to
your organization. So uh, and we after hid the performance
he had yesterday, we definitely want him part of the organization.
And so, Mike, have you have you done any chewing
on bark lately? And what is the latest with Aaron
Rodgers as he sits in California, and according to Terry
(01:09):
Bradshaw's should just continue to sit there and chew on
bark and not join his beloved Steelers.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I have not yet chewed on bark that I can remember.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
It's quite possible, in the state of inebriation, at some
point in my life I did decide to take a
bite out of a piece of bark. I vaguely recall
biting into a Christmas ornament once upon a time after.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
A little too much tequila. So that wasn't.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Good what But.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
No, it was a styrofoam apple. It was covered in material,
so that.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Wasn't as bad as bucking the glass one against my
forehead and having glitter embedded into my scalp.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
For an extended period of time.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
But those were the days when I was young and stupid,
not to be confused with today when I am old
and stupid. But no bark for me. I loved it.
Insult from Terry Bradshaw. It's an all time great insult,
and he just encapsulates the attitude that the old school
football mind would have about somebody who just constantly meanders
(02:11):
and contemplates and thinks and ruminates and can't make a
freaking decision. That's the thing about this that I believe
is exhausting to Steelers fans.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Just tell us what you're going to do.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
You don't have to come today, but you can tell
us you're coming eventually. And this mystery that he's created,
and I think that's his m off. He's not the
kind of attention town who stands out in the street
and says, look at me, look at me, look at me.
Here's what I hate at McDonald's. Here's what I hat
at pizza Hut. Here's what I had here, here's.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
The bark eye chewed on last night. He doesn't do that.
He just says.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Nothing, and he creates a vacuum the people necessarily are
going to try to fill with information and speculation and analysis.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Just tell us what you're going to do.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
He's hanging out with a guy named Mike's stud he's
answering questions, he's.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Playing word games. Tell us what you're gonna do.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
And I feel like that's where Steelers fans are right
now in Bradshaw. I think perfectly encapsulated. It. It's a
combination of frustration that they're doing a one year rental
and this idea of he won't tell us what he's
going to do.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
Well, I agree with Bradshaw in his comment and the
general tenor of how he feels about this absurdity. I mean,
here we are, you know, you know, almost in June,
and he hasn't made a decision. But I do find
it interesting. Regarding Bradshaw, you know his biography. I remember
reading it as a kid that you know, he was
(03:37):
the number one overall pick. The Pittsford Steelers were dreadful
at the time, obviously because they had the number one pick.
He hated as a Louisiana boy, the idea that they
had to go to Pittsburgh. And these comments are regarding
Rogers are reminiscent of the comments that he had about
John Elway when John Elway was going through his drama
around his draft. So I'm well, I'm on Bradshaw's Rochas's side,
(04:02):
but I think that there's a little bit of asterisk
with history, with his own history.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
At the same time, I think that the reason his
comments were so compelling is because look, and I'm standing
one hundred miles south of the Golden Triangle in downtown Pittsburgh.
I can get there in an hour and a half.
I've lived in or around Pittsburgh pretty much my entire life.
I know how Steelers fans think. I know how they're wired.
(04:29):
I'm not a Steelers fan, but I'm one of the
people who are in this area where the Steelers fans
come from. And there is a simple, basic mindset that
we have. It's very linear, it's very simple. You're going
to grab a shovel and help us dig.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Are you going to stand there and watch?
Speaker 4 (04:44):
Let us know what you're planning on doing while you're
figuring it out. We'll get back to digging. And I
think some resentment builds up over this idea that, as
Cam Hayward said, And I think Cam Hayward's comments resonated
with Steelers fans because it captures what they were thinking
back in March. When either you want to be a
Steeler or you don't. This is an opportunity that doesn't
(05:05):
come to every player, and when you get it, you
take it. Why would you not see that you're being
offered an opportunity to be a quarterback at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And I know there's some attitude that's embedded in that belief.
But that's the way the Steelers are, and that's the
way the fans are. We don't beg we're not desperate,
We don't get on a knee and hold the position
forever while we're waiting for the guy to decide whether
(05:27):
or not he's going to accept the offer. And I
think it's just a lot of frustration and the way
that Bradshaw said what he said, it came at a
time when there's a lot of Steelers fans who are
just feeling antsy and irritated and they just want this
guy to make a decision.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Well, I think TJ. Watt wants to be a Pittsburgh Steeler,
but he doesn't want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler under
his current deal. How problematic is this going to be?
And how long is this holdout going to last?
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Well, you know, the problem to Steelers created by not
getting TJ. Wattsfield done earlier. The market his spiked. And
I believe two things about the Steelers, but this offseason, One,
they should have traded George Pickens before they traded four
Dk Metcalf. I think they would have gotten more for
Pickens if it wasn't obvious to the trained eye that
the town wasn't big enough for both Metcalf and Pickens.
(06:16):
And second, they should have gotten watsdeal done before they
did something they've never done.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
They've never given.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
A market level contract to a player who has no
history with the Steelers. So if you're going to give
thirty million a year in total value, thirty.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Five million a year in new money analysis.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
To a receiver who's never played for you before, what
are you going to do for a guy who's been
a cornerstone of the franchise, who's a face of the franchise,
who's given you loyal and high end performance for years.
Are you going to not make him the highest paide
player at his position? What are you going to do?
They did it the last time when twenty eight million
was the high water market. Now the high water market's
gone to forty. If they had done this earlier, it
(06:55):
would have been lower, and they would have done it
before Metcalf got paid. And they've you know, the Steelers
that I've known for fifty years, I think they're doubting
their ways and they're just doing something different because it's
been nearly a decade since they want a playoff game.
It's almost like when George Standers decided.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
To do the opposite that nothing he was doing was working.
The Steelers are like doing the opposite this year.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
They're not acting like the Steelers have acted in the past,
and they're hoping for a different result.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Mike Florio with US and Mike, You have a featured
story on Pro Football Talk. Caleb Williams quoted, I wanted
to come here. I love being here, referring to Chicago
and his pick with the Bears of the number one.
There's also talk this week that Ben Johnson, the new coach,
wants him to work on his body language. So just
(07:46):
kind of talk about where we are and going into
sophomore season for Caleb Williams in Chicago.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Well, I believe that Caleb Williams is telling the truth,
depending upon the timeframe he's referring to. At some point
he realized that the Bears not going to trade his rights,
and he decided along with his father Karl.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
That they were not going.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
To try to launch a public campaign to get the
Bears to trade the pick, that they didn't want the
heat that was going to come from pushing back against
the NFL's version of the Harry Potter sorting hat. And
the draft has gotten so big now, and I've written
about this recently, I'm not sure anyone can push back.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Like John Elway and Eli Manning did.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Maybe arch can get away with it, assuming he's a
top prospect and he had Eli and Peyton and Archie
and his dad Cup are out there carrying the flag.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
But even then it's not going to be easy.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
So Caleb eventually cried uncle. But there's no reason to
doubt on the record comments from Carl Williams of Seth
Wickershram and Seth Wickerson isn't a clickbait merchant. He wasn't
doing short term reporting. He's working on a book and
this surfaces as part of the reporting he did for
his book. So yeah, Cayler Williams ultimately decided to love
(08:57):
the one he's with because there was no way he
was going to get to Minnesota or anywhere else. So
I have no issue with that. I wish you would
just be.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Candid about it.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
There's no harm in telling the truth about it. I
think most reasonable people would agree. And as to the
body language, hey, everything a quarterback does exudes whether or
not he's the guy.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
And I give you an example.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
When we're in Philadelphia for the Division Round Dame and
we're out on the field ahead of time.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Matthew Stafford is a badass.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
He's like John Wayne just the way he's just his presence.
And I think there's something to be said for because
it's a very visual sport. There's something to be said
for how you carry yourself, how you your face reacts,
your expressions, how you interact with other people, how just
everything about your vibe. People are gonna watch it, they're
(09:45):
gonna study it, and they're gonna come to conclusion.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
So I think there's something be said for Ben Johnson.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Wanting that I don't know that you say it out loud.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I think you just do it. But the fact that he's.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Saying it out loud, it may it may be a
sign that he's gotten some resistance so far in his
effort to get Caleb Williams to buy in.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Hey, Mike, before I let you go, could you give
us an anecdote or two about your run ins with
Jim Mersey down the years.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Well, I never met him, and I don't think I
ever interviewed him, although we did have a back and
forth on Twitter at one point and he referred to
me as floor sweeper, which is okay.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
It's not as good as.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Chew on Bark, but it was okay, and I think
we got past it, and I think we were fine
at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
And look, I criticized him when.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
He needs to be criticized, and he did and said
things that merited criticism. I firmly believe that the decision
to dump Frank Reich and hire Jeff Saturday to be
the interim coach.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I wrote something at.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
The time that basically, there needs to be a mutiny
or the league needs to step in because Jim Mersay
may not be fit to operate this team on a
day to day basis, and I believed.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
That at the time.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
But I also believe he was a unique, authentic figure
who was always himself.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
He did think his way.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
There were times that was great, there were times that
wasn't great, but it wasn't of any malice. He loved
the cults, he loved the NFL. He tried to do
what he thought was right, and sometimes he was right,
and sometimes in his effort to do what he thought
was right, he was wrong.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Mike, we all saw a pleasure, always a pleasure. We'll
talk to you next week, all right, So you guys